Abstract
Eighteen samples of honeys which were harvested over several beekeeping seasons from apiaries located in the area of the “Kózki” Nature Reserve (central-eastern Poland) were the subject of the present study. The “Kózki” Nature Reserve is included in the European Ecological Network Natura 2000 program. A microscopic analysis of the pollen sediment in the honeys showed the presence of 61 pollen types from 32 botanical families in the investigated material. There were represented by nectariferous (72.1%) and nonnectariferous plants (27.9%) and both entomophilous and anemophilous ones. The total number of pollen taxa in individual samples ranged from 13 to 37. The main sources of nectar from trees and shrubs were: Frangula alnus, Prunus, Robinia pseudacacia, Rubus, Salix, Tilia. The main sources of nectar from herbaceous plants were: Anthriscus, Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Centaurea cyanus, Taraxacum, and Trifolium repens. Four unifloral honeys (three fruit tree honeys and one lime honey) and fourteen multifloral honeys, with a significant percentage of pollen from several nectariferous plant taxa, were distinguished in the studied material.